i use a cool bot/air conditioner in a room i built in the basement. i was running it 3-4 days a week from late may to mid june. my bill for that period was only $20 more than the previous year without the walk in.
it is recommended that the walkin be insulated to r24. it would cost you more to build a well insulated and sealed room than the cooler that you describe costs. what condition is the door in? does it have a floor? you need a well insulated floor to save energy costs. mine is about 6x8. its much less work to stack full bushel baskets/boxes of produce ready to load to take to the market. its also a great place to cool off when harvesting outside during the summer.

My grandparents have a walk-in cooler in their barn that they bought a long time ago and used for their market produce. They used it in the summer when they had a lot of produce all at once, too much for a couple old fridges. Plus, that is the time of year when it is hot and everything rots much faster.

Jay, $499 is a good price, but since it was an inside unit, you will probably need to build a building around it. some inside units don't have the floor. Most of the units that I've seen go for much more than that. Personally, I prefer to take things apart, so I make sure I have all the screws/bolts and know how it's supposed to look like assembled.

You might contact the seller and see if they will take a lower price. Or barter some of the price. They might like some of your jellies or fresh produce.

I am not sure if it has a rain cap or not, but I would build a small lean to roof over the top, with the other side the walk out basement wall. It has to be set outside, I don't have any other option. Eventually, it would be moved into the fictional building that we haven't build yet.

It does have a floor, I have already asked that. I would have to take it apart, which I also like as I can see how it goes together. After exchanging emails with the owner, he is getting me more pictures. It was in this building that he bought. It is actually upstairs ( not sure how that works) but he said it won't be too hard to remove it. He thinks it was used to hold flowers, not sure how with out a compressor, but I am hopeful.

I am going to barter on the price. I hope for about $300, but we will have to wait and see.

Jay

Well I bought it for $350, as long as it all checks out. Now I have to go and take it down and move it home, a 3 hour trip one way. The good news is I have family in that town so they get to play with the kids while I go and work. I also have some free labor!

Jay

Good deal, enjoy your new cooler.

We drove the 2.5 hours to pick up the cooler last weekend. It was older than I expected, but in fairly good condition. When I closed myself inside the cooler, I couldn't see any light around the door, so the seal is fairly good. There was no rust inside or outside. We did find some rust on the bottom side of the floor when we picked it up of the floor. We were able to tear it apart in about 20 minutes. I hope it goes back together that fast!

I will need to caulk the seams to ensure an airtight seal. I also am thinking about taping all the joints where the panels come together. That and I may even add another layer of foam inside to boost the R-value even more. I hope to get it put back up before New years. Then I can work on running some electricity to it, put in two plug in's and a light. I am going to put it up in our walk out basement. Then it will have to sit and wait until we have more income coming in in order to buy the Coolbot and AC unit.

I will add pictures when we have them available.

Jay

look for second hand air conditioner. i always see them on cl. just be sure its a brand recommended by the cool bot supplier. i bought a new one for mine but i was feeling flush with money at the time. not any more.
will you have to cut the wall of the cooler to fit the air conditioner?

Yes I will have to cut the wall in the cooler. There are already two holes where pipes came into the unit, so I will just start there.
I started to look for an AC unit on CL too, saw a few but not too many people looking to sell them in December!

Jay

Ask for the air conditioner, instead of waiting for one to be listed. You might just prompt someone to sell.

I wouldn't worry about another layer of foam, those old units are pretty good on the insulation value. Since you are adding your own compressor/AC, then you can figure out what's best economy wise.

FYI, I have a friend that restored a refrigerator trailer, for gaps and such, he used silicone. The kind you find in the paint department. All cracks/gaps must be sealed to haul produce, and the trailer that he was restoring needed lots of it. You did a good job of going inside and looking out for air gaps. You might also spray water on the outside and then look inside for any leaks too small for the naked eye to have seen. I'd wait til warmer weather for the water test tho. lol.

i used silicone and also great stuff.